I started watching Fight Club again after borrowing it from a friend. The brilliance of that movie just blows me away every time. It's always kind of inspiring to me each time I see it. It just cuts through so many issues, like materialism, what it means to be a man, the influence of our fathers, what matters in life, the emptiness of some social scripts, the deliciousness of living one's life to the fullest. Some of my favorite lines- after a car crash that they let happen "You just had a near-life experience man"; "What you own ends up owning you"; "I'm a 30 year old boy....We're not men"; "His breakfast tomorrow is going to taste better than anything you or I have ever tasted".

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I just read an interesting review of Fahrenheit 9/11 in The National Review. It was fair, didn't attack Moore personally, and didn't engage in the very things it critiqued Moore for. It showed me the distinction I've heard about recently between true conservatives and the far-right. A lot of the criticisms I've heard about the movie lately seem to fall pretty far right. They attack Moore personally, and they criticize him for making harsh accusations based on no proof and paper-thin logic by doing that very thing.
Whatever else the movie shows, it's brought to light the state of political debate in our country. I can't help but think that the way Moore is being attacked (and perhaps this includes his attack on the administration) will be the same ways the Baha'i community will be attacked as it gains more influence. It seems like the more the far right sees things changing, going in directions they don't like, and as the Baha'i community grows (it's one of the fastest growing religious communities in the country) their attacks will be focused on it. And it seems like it'll happen through books, blogs, legal suits, threats, magazines, rumors (like Michael Moore has an agreement with Hezbollah to distribute his films. I can't believe that one)and by bringing political and public pressure to bear. Should be an interesting time...

Last night we went to see Fahrenheit 9/11, the midnight show they added because all their other shows were selling out. If I had to sum up my reaction to it in one sentence I'd have to say I felt like I'd seen the face of evil, that any innocence or naivete I might have had about global and national politics is now gone, that it made me marvel even more at God's plan for the world, and that I'm really glad both that Michael Moore had the guts to make this movie and that I saw it. It's definitely not for the squeamish. There is footage the like of which I've never seen. Somehow Mr. Moore got footage of Iraqi wounded, of US soldiers being attacked and wounded, of the civilians that were burned alive and hung from bridges a couple months ago, and of Iraqi prisoners being maltreated. It was hard to see that much physical pain that others were suffering. Even harder to watch at times, however, were things like when 10 Congressional Representatives, all either African American or Asian, objected to the election of Bush in 2000 at a joint Congressional meeting and no Senator was willing to support them. The frustation felt, and shared by the audience, by a former high-level FBI counter-terrorism officer that couldn't explain why members of the Saudi and bin Laden family were flown out of the country on September 13, with approval by the White House, when every shred of evidence pointed to the perpretators of 9/11 being either bin Laden family members, or having had the support of the Saudis. Perhaps most painful was the anguish of a mother who was initially proud to have her son serving in the military, but later when she lost her son to fighting in Iraq could only find solace by physically confronting the White House, directing her anger, disillusionment, and heartache towards a building that houses those that sent her son to die and stopped supporting him, as in his last letter he confesses to her that he doesn't know what they're doing their anymore (almost as shocking is that for all of the administration's talk about supporting soldiers, the White House has moved to lower combat pay for soldiers by 30% and family support by 60%. The first policy I know to have been vetoed by Congress, but I don't know about the second. It was powerful to realize that, as in the words of one soldier in Iraq at the time, that soldiers get paid $2000 p/month, while a truck driver that works for Hallliburton gets almost 5 times that).
In short, I think that anyone trying to understand what's going on in terms of the war on terror, whether in Afghanistan, Iraq, or here at home should see this movie. Whether you agree with the story Moore has weaved together or not, it'll definitely make you see things in a different light.
One last thing, I can't help but think that Moore must have gotten something right in his analysis, otherwise why would so many people be trying to stop his movie from showing. First with Disney refusing to release it, to movie theater owners receiving death threats, to now the FEC trying to block it. In the interview with Moore on Friday, he said that one reason Disney tried to block the movie is because the Saudi royal family owns a quarter of EuroDisney, saving it right before it went bankrupt.

Today we met with one of the coordinators of the doula program at the hospital. It was so great. We're both really glad we decided to request the assistance of one. They serve a lot of different functions, but they primarily provide support for the couple. That means they are gatekeepers, so they follow the couple's requests in terms of who's in the room, they give the dad breaks, to either rest or get something to eat or get a treat for the mother when she's done with the birth (some women request things like sushi, beer, coffee, diet coke, when they're all done with the delivery), make sure the mother is never left alone, no matter how long the labor, and help the mother with different positions during labor, things like using the shower, jacuzzi, squat bar. One of the really cool things she described was that they normalize things. Since this is our first birth we don't really know what to expect or what things are going to look like during the process. For example, if the mother gets really flushed it'd be easy for the dad to think something was wrong, or if she wants to throw up they're their to say, Great!. They put things in context, let us know when things are going ok and what can be expected. The more she talked the more relaxed I was feeling. I started kinda slumping in my chair, and I realized it was because I felt like we were going to have help, that it wasn't just us in the room.

Another interesting thing I noticed was that we were meeting in a doctor's room since the midwives were all booked in terms of needing their rooms. There was a big difference that made the contrast in philosophies really apparent. The pediatrician's room had big pictures of the body, models of body parts, and specific illustrations of body parts. There were no pictures. All of the rooms the midwives use are almost completely plastered with pictures of babies they've delivered, women delivering, both in bed and water, couples just receiving their baby, women breastfeeding for the first time, etc. As we were walking out I looked in all of the pediatrician's rooms and noticed the same thing. It was just interesting to see the dramatic difference in environment.

Yes, that's right, the end is in sight. I'm not talking here about the end of my Master's program, the imminent arrival of Amia, the Bush administration, chilly weather, or El Nino. I'm speaking of the baby classes at the hospital. For the past month or so we've been regular visitors at the hospital, sometimes 3 times a week, for 2 hours a night. We've learned much, met some fun couples, and gotten some good free stuff, but it's getting a little tiring. Like most people I don't have very positive associations with hospitals, and usually the smell is enough to bring back some memories I don't want to have anymore, so it was good to go there for something fun and happy. But 3 times a week? All we have left is one more prepared childbirth class where we tour the birthing rooms, and I have a Make Room for Daddy class, and then we're done until the big day.
Last night was an interesting class though. It was Caring for the Newborn, stuff like how to give them a bath, how to care for the umbilical cord, how to swaddle, how to burp (they don't suggest patting their backs. Stroking their backs is more effective they say), how to change a diaper (give girl babies a little more diaper in the back, boys more in the front), so it was definitely useful. And I found out what imprinting is finally. It's something all baby mammals do, but usually only with the mother. Baby humans are equipped to see only 8-15 inches in front of them, so all they can see is the parent's face if the mother is breastfeeding. When the baby is first given to the mother is when they imprint with them. Baby humans are the only ones who can also imprint with the father. What she said to do is soon after the birth, the father should hold the baby against their bare chest. This allows the baby to feel their skin, smell their natural odor, and feel their heartbeat. And we also found out about some games we can play in utero. One mother said she could tap on her tummy and the baby would tap back the same number of times. You can also shine a flashlight right against the tummy and the baby will move towards it. We tried it last night a couple times and Amia did it! At this point in her development she can open her eyes and detect light. That's my girl!

P.P. Ben from Ben and Jerry's is going to be on the O'Franken Factor today, which goes from 11-2. Just click on the interesting news link on the left and you can stream it. Should be interesting. I guess he helped found MoveOn.org.